The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
The shipment of pallet loads of goods constitutes a substantial part of commercial traffic. Frequently, the pallet loads are formed from a number of different sized and shaped articles that do not stack in a stable configuration, thereby requiring some form of tensioning wrap to be utilized.
To this end, there are a number of commercially available pallet wrapping machines which can function in an automated or semi-automated fashion to securely wrap palletized materials. However, such machines are typically designed and built to wrap extremely high volumes of palletized materials having a uniform shape and size. To this end, and owing to their high cost, the use of such machines has typically been limited to product manufacturers who ship extremely high volumes of identical materials, wherein each pallet is loaded and wrapped uniformly.
For these reasons, the most common means for wrapping palletized materials is to do so manually. As will be known to those of skill in the art, the most common type of pallet wrapping material is plastic stretch film, which is typically provided in a roll, and has an elongated cardboard (or other light material) tube that extends a few inches from the top and bottom ends to aid a user in manually wrapping a pallet of goods. In this regard, the user typically begins at one corner of the pallet and must literally crawl around the base of the pallet in order to ensure the film is secured thereon. Once the corners have been secured, the user will circle the pallet several times while incrementally raising the level of the stretch film.
Unfortunately, this process suffers from several drawbacks. For example, owing to the shortened nature of the cardboard handle, the height of the pallet is typically limited to the height the user can reach. As such, pallets are rarely taller than 72 inches, which means that valuable space within tractor trailers (typically over 12 feet in height) goes unused. Additionally, owing to the lightweight construction of the handles, it is difficult for the user to apply sufficient pressure onto the stretch material, as doing so often bends or breaks the handle making it unusable. Finally, because it is difficult for the user to easily access the bottom of the pallet, this portion often does not receive adequate wrapping, which can cause the entire pallet to become unstable during transport.
Although there are several known devices for facilitating manual pallet wrapping, such devices are typically designed to work with a single type or brand of stretch film, and/or require specialized tools or knowledge to change rolls or utilize the device. Such drawbacks limit the commercial success of these devices.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a pallet wrapping device that can be utilized with any type or size of stretch film material, that does not require specialized knowledge or tools to utilize, and that can eliminate the drawbacks described above.